Global Water Quality Deterioration Called ‘Invisible Crisis’

Deterioration
of water quality is an “invisible crisis” that must be addressed, according to
a World Bank report published Aug. 20.

While lack of
water (quantity) in some parts of the world receives significant attention, poor
water quality is a global challenge to which no nation is immune, and which is
often overlooked.

Polluted water
is “no respecter of persons,” negatively impacting both high- and low-income nations
and tending to increase, rather than decrease, in more prosperous nations.

“Rich and poor
countries alike endure high levels of water pollution … high-income status does
not confer immunity from water quality problems,” the report said. “Not only does
pollution not decline with economic growth, but the range of pollutants tends
to expand with prosperity.”

Every continent
and most nations have regions facing a high risk of poor or declining water
quality, polluted by items such as fecal matter, fertilizers, salt, plastics
(including microplastics) and pharmaceuticals.

Nitrogen from
fertilizers enters water supplies through runoff, negatively impacting infants
and young children who consume it by hindering their growth – a notable public health
challenge in India, Vietnam and parts of Africa.

Salinization of
water sources, which has long plagued humanity, has reached a point that
“enough food is lost each year because of saline water to feed 170 million
people.”

Varying forms
of plastics are estimated to be in around 80% of the fresh water supply
worldwide, with removal both challenging and expensive.

While
wastewater treatment processes are taken for granted in some countries, “more
than 80 percent of the world’s wastewater – and more than 95 percent in some
developing countries – is still released into the environment without
treatment.”

Measuring the
precise economic impact of poor water quality is complex, but high levels of
pollution in water supplies correlate to decreases in a region’s or nation’s gross
domestic product by as much as one third.

Dismissing a “one-size-fits-all
prescription,” the report called for a multifaceted response that includes approaches
that are passive (information gathering and sharing about water quality),
proactive (prevention through legislation and enforcement of laws protecting
water systems) and reactive (investments in water treatment systems).

“Action is
needed: water quality needs to be politically prioritized, and it should be
treated as an urgent concern for public health, the economy and ecosystems,”
the report said. “The findings from this report show that long-term costs have
been underestimated and underappreciated.”

“With water
scarcity expected to increase as populations grow and the climate changes, the
world cannot afford to waste and contaminate its precious water resources.”